A Closer look into Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Metaverse – ‘Otherside’

Sahana Kiran
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Source – Unsplash

Non-fungible tokens a.k.a NFTs emerged as the face of the digital metamorphosis that the globe was undergoing. Yuga Labs was quick to jump onto this bandwagon with the launch of Bored Ape Yacht Club [BAYC]. This further grew in popularity in no time. The apes were running the show and it looks like they would soon be swinging into the metaverse as well.

Welcome to the crypto jungle; The ‘bored ape’ runs this show

The entire world wanted to be a part of the NFT fun. From celebrities to the average Joe, an array of them poured their funds into something that isn’t even tangible. Even though the whole NFT fervor was started by CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club brought in high-profile members into the ecosystem.

The Ethereum-based NFT project lured celebrities from different industries. Queen of pop Madonna, rapper Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mark Cuban, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Post Malone, The Chainsmokers, Marshmello, Ozzy Osbourne, Justin Beiber, Jimmy Fallon, Future, DJ Khaled, Lil Baby, YouTuber Logan Paul, Neymar Jr., Serena Williams, Wiz Khalifa, Mike Shinoda, Steve Aoki, and several others are collectors of the BAYC NFT.

Thanks to these A-listers, Bored Ape Yacht Club was painted in glitz and glam.

Trouble in the Bored Ape Yacht Club paradise?

The crypto-verse isn’t new to hacks, however, the NFT space is still in its nascent stage. Earlier this week, perpetrators had their eyes on the Instagram and Discord channels of BAYC. Following the hack, several users had lost their NFTs via a fake mint link.

NFTs that were priced at millions of dollars were stolen by the hackers. As per reports more than $13 million in NFTs were lost during the hack.

The Otherside: Bored Ape Yacht Club Edition

With digitalization taking off in full spree, several firms have been dropping their own versions of the metaverse. Creating a digital world exclusively for their native product has become a trend now. Therefore, jumping onto this trend, BAYC decided to roll out its very own metaverse called the Otherside. This arena is all set to make its debut on 30 April post 12 PM ET.

Bored Ape Yacht Club’s metaverse venture, the Otherside is being formulated in collaboration with Animoca Brands, the firm that runs The Sandbox metaverse.

Here’s how to make your way into Bored Ape Yacht Club’s the Otherside

KYC is a must to venture into the Otherside. Only those users who have completed the KYC process will be allowed to participate in the Saturday launch. Those who intend to carry out minting are also mandated to complete KYC. However, those who currently entail BAYC NFTs, as well as MAYC NFTs, would be allowed to claim an NFT for a period of 21 days post the auction. While they do not necessarily need KYC to claim an NFT, minting would require KYC approval.

Additionally, KYC-ed wallets will display the pre-approve option on the morning of the big launch. The platform, however, decided to allocate more time for its users to set pre-approval.

Another aspect that the community has eyes for is “Kodas”. While it was part of the Otherside teaser, nobody really knows what it is. The big launch on Saturday will put things in perspective.

Apecoin will be the currency of the Otherside

Just as the zeal around BAYC NFTs persisted, Yuga Labs decided to drop a cryptocurrency called the Apecoin [APE]. Furthermore, BAYC NFT holders were airdropped with this altcoin. Similar to the popularity of BAYC NFTs, the price of APE was also doing well. Currently, the altcoin was trying to steer towards $20. However, the ongoing market sentiment seemed to be making it a little harder.

Nevertheless, the increased use of APE in the Otherside could most likely pump the altcoin.

The minting process would exclusively be in Apecoin. The mint was initially expected to occur in Dutch auction-style. This, however, was switched up last minute. The Otherside devs alerted the community that the Dutch-style auction wouldn’t take place. This style of auction reportedly does not mediate demand or even eliminate gas wars in highly anticipated mints.

Instead of this, the platform would be taking a different turn. A recent blog post read,

“The cost to mint an Otherdeed NFT will be a flat price of 305 ApeCoin. A total of 55k Otherdeeds will be available for purchase by KYC’d wallets. In order to ensure as broad a distribution as possible and dramatically soften the potential for a massive gas war, there will be an enforced limit of 2 NFTs per wallet at the start of the sale. Again, this is per wallet, not per transaction.”

In addition to this, holding onto some Ethereum [ETH] for gas was also advised.

The fervor around the project has skyrocketed. BAYC’s upcoming release will not only open doors to more A-listers but it could also spruce up the Bored Ape Yacht Club floor price. Currently, the price is 134.9 ETH.

Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Otherside is finally live

Despite encountering a couple of heckles the Bored Ape Yacht Club made its debut in the metaverse. The Otherside through its official Twitter handle made the announcement on 1 May 2022.

The platform also stressed that this was the only medium to mint as scammy portals commenced infiltrating the market.